LD SEAPLANE (formerly FRET-CETAM)

As part of a contract signed with Airbus in 2002, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs group and Leif Höegh group (Norway) joined forces to create a common company named Fret-CETAM. This company originates from the coming together of Fret S.A. – a subsidiary of the LDA group specialising in heavy and special cargo transportation – and CETAM, a subsidiary of the Leif Höegh group specialised in car and truck transportation. The French-Norwegian company is thus responsible for the transportation of A380 parts as well as other AIRBUSplane components. It is also responsible for the multimodal logistical planning between its different production sites spread between Pauillac (France), Hamburg (Germany), Cadix (Spain), Mostyn (United-Kingdom), Naples (Italy) and Tunisia.

This 20-year contract required the construction of three ships especially designed, and delivered by two shipyards (in China and Singapore) : "Ville de Bordeaux", "City of Hamburg" and "Ciudad de Cadiz".

The logistical planning is a very complex task as Fret-CETAM, from its offices in Toulouse and Paris, has to optimise the routes at sea as well as ashore, while making transportation means profitable when compared to the filling rate, but also in accordance with the fuel consumption. As a true maritime engineering specialist, Fret-CETAM organises complementary loads in order to optimise the filling and the exploitation of the ships.